BotanyGuayabano is a small tree, usually less
than 7 meters high. Leaves are smooth, glossy, shiny, oblong-obovate to oblong,
7 to 20 centimeters in length, pointed on both ends, with petioles about 5 millimeters long. Flower is solitary, large,
solitary, yellow or greenish-yellow. Three outer petals are broadly ovate with a heart-shaped base, up to 5 centimeters long, and 3 centimeters wide; and the inner three are also large, elliptic to obovate, and rounded.
Fruit is ovoid and large, up to 18 centimeters long, covered
with small scattered, soft spinelike processes. Skin is thin, and the pulp is soft, rather fibrous, white, and fleshy, with an agreeable, but rather sour flavor.

Distribution- Cultivated for its edible fruit.
- Prevalent in the rain forests of Africa, South America, and Southeast Asia.

UsesEdibility / Nutrition· Juicy ripe fruit is eaten
raw; also used in making beverages, ice cream, and jelly tarts.
· Fruit is an excellent source of vitamins B and C.Folkloric· Unripe fruit used for dysentery.
· Ripe fruit is antiscorbutic.
· Seeds and green fruit are astringent.
· Flowers are antispasmodic.
· Infusion of leaves used as sudorific, antispasmodic and emetic.
· In some cultures, the fruits and leaves are used for tranquilizing
and sedative properties.
· Juice of ripe fruit used as diuretic and for hematuria and
urethritis.
· Flesh of soursop used as poultice to draw out chiggers.
·Decoction of leaves used of head lice and bedbugs.
· Pulverized seeds and seed oil effective for head lice.
· Fruit used as a bait in fish traps.
· Decoction of leaves used as compresses for inflammation and
swollen feet.
· Poultice of mashed leaves and sap of young leaves used for
eczema and skin eruptions.
· Flowers used to alleviate catarrh.
· Used as tonic by Chinese and Malays.
· In Mexico used as pectoral, antiscorbutic and febrifuge; seeds and green fruit used as astringent and for dysentery.· In Yucatan juice of the fruit is used for dysentery.
· In Cameroon, leaves used for diabetes.
· In Antiles and Reunion, infusion of leaves used as sudorific.
· In the Peruvian Andes, leaf tea is used for catarrh and crushed seeds for parasitism.
· In the Peruvian Amazon, bark, roots and leaves used for diabetes, as sedative and as antispasmodic.
· In the Brazilian Amazon, the oil of leaves and unripe fruit is mixed with olive oil and used externally for neuralgic, rheumatism and arthritis pains.Others· Bark has been used in tanning.
· The wood is a potential source of paper pulp.
· For a good night's sleep, leaves are put in the pillow slip
or strewn in bed.

Folkloric· Unripe fruit used for dysentery.
· Ripe fruit is antiscorbutic.
· Seeds and green fruit are astringent.
· Flowers are antispasmodic.
· Infusion of leaves used as sudorific, antispasmodic and emetic.
· In some cultures, the fruits and leaves are used for tranquilizing
and sedative properties.
· Juice of ripe fruit used as diuretic and for hematuria and
urethritis.
· Flesh of soursop used as poultice to draw out chiggers.
·Decoction of leaves used of head lice and bedbugs.
· Pulverized seeds and seed oil effective for head lice.
· Fruit used as a bait in fish traps.
· Decoction of leaves used as compresses for inflammation and
swollen feet.
· Poultice of mashed leaves and sap of young leaves used for
eczema and skin eruptions.
· Flowers used to alleviate catarrh.
· Used as tonic by Chinese and Malays.
· In Mexico used as pectoral, antiscorbutic and febrifuge; seeds and green fruit used as astringent and for dysentery.
· In Indonesia traditionally used as anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor
· In Yucatan juice of the fruit is used for dysentery.
· In the West Indies, used as vermifuge.
· In Antiles and Reunion, infusion of leaves used as sudorific.
· In the Peruvian Andes, leaf tea is used for catarrh and crushed seeds for parasitism.
· In the Peruvian Amazon, bark, roots and leaves used for diabetes, as sedative and as antispasmodic.
· In the Brazilian Amazon, the oil of leaves and unripe fruit is mixed with olive oil and used externally for neuralgic, rheumatism and arthritis pains.

Toxicity· Presence of alkaloids anonaine and anoniine
have been reported. The bark yields muricine and muricinine and is high
in hydrocyanic acid; small amounts are found in the leaves and roots,
and a trace in the fruit.· Seed and seed coat of soursop yield toxicants—tannin 2.6 mg/100 g (seed), 4.9 mg/100 g (seed coat); phytate 620.5 mg/100 g (S), 188.0 (SC); cyanide 3.7 mg/kg (S), 10.8 mg/kg (SC).
· Caribbean study suggested a connection between consumption
of soursop and atypical forms of Parkinson's disease due to the very
high concentration of Annonacin.
· Graviola may cause movement disorders and myeloneuropathy with symptoms similar to Parkinson's disease.